ISLAMABAD:
The government is reviewing the possibility of rehabilitating the Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar (ML-I) railway track with Chinese assistance in an effort to ship imported and domestic coal from Sindh for generating about 8,000 megawatts of electricity in Punjab.
The rail link is part of mega development schemes that will be discussed with Chinese authorities during upcoming meetings in connection with the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, according to the Ministry of Planning and Development.
Federal Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal will lead a delegation for the deliberations to be held in China on July 7-8.
Under the corridor, China will secure energy supplies through the Gwadar Port for its northwestern provinces aimed at reducing the cost of doing business in addition to securing safer routes for the supplies from Central Asia and Africa.
Pakistan is also expected to benefit from the initiative as thousands of jobs will be created along the transit route, stretching over 2,000 km of roads. “The national development agenda of the government will make Pakistan a fast-growing economy in Asia,” commented the planning minister.
To review progress on what the government calls Early Harvest Projects under the corridor, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Planning. It was chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and attended by Tareq Fatemi, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and Musaddiq Malik, Adviser to PM on Energy.
According to officials, the country has conducted a pre-feasibility study on the rail track and details will be shared with Chinese authorities in the upcoming meetings. A contract will soon be awarded to undertake feasibility study for which Rs400 million has been set aside.
Under the project, the government wants to modernise signal gears besides expanding existing tracks and laying new ones. The length of the rail track that will be modernised is 1,736 km, according to the pre-feasibility study. Pakistan hopes that China will provide a concessionary loan for the project.
The project was vital for transporting coal from Sindh to the planned coal-fired power plants in Punjab, officials added. The Punjab government has planned to set up six coal-based power plants. It aims to complete two plants in the next three years and the remaining four by 2018 – a year before the government completes its constitutional five-year term.
Punjab is expecting an investment of up to $10 billion in these coal-based power plants.
The meeting also discussed Gwadar projects that would be taken up with Chinese authorities. The projects finalised for the review meetings included 18.9km East-Bay Gwadar Port Expressway, infrastructure development for Export Processing Zones Authority and Gwadar Industrial Estate Development Authority.
The mode of financing for the Gwadar International Airport will also be discussed during the deliberations. China has already decided to construct the airport.
Officials said two other energy projects would also be taken up with Chinese authorities. Progress on 10 coal-based independent power projects at Gadani and a transmission line to link these projects with the national grid will also be part of the agenda.
Two projects of Thar – a mining scheme and a power project – will also be discussed with China.
As part of the economic corridor, Karachi-Lahore Motorway, 387km Multan-Sukkur Motorway and Lahore Metro Train (Orange Line) will also come up for discussion during the talks.
The planning minister directed the departments concerned to fast-track work on finalising financing agreements with China to kick-start physical work. He directed the authorities to set up project management offices in the ministries for speedy execution of projects as the economic corridor would be a game-changer for the region.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2014.
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@unbelievable: EVEN IF CHINA USES GWADAR PORT AS A NAVAL BASE IT WILL BE GOOD FOR PAKISTAN, CHINA IS THE CLOSEST ALLY OF PAKISTAN, A MOST RELIABLE & TIME TASTED FRIEND, ENEMY ON THE EASTERN BORDER ALSO AN ENEMY OF CHINA CAN BE KEPT IN CHECK FROM ITS TERRORIST FANATICAL EXPANSION POLICIES.:)
Under the corridor, China will secure energy supplies through the Gwadar Port . How does China use the Gwadar Port to "secure energy supplies"? It's not practical to supply oil, gas or coal using trucks let alone trucks over lousy roads which are closed part of the year because they are snowed in. It's one of those Elephant in the Room things that Pakistani's don't seem to notice. It's far more likely that China would view the Gwadar Port as a possible naval base to help secure the naval routes for existing energy supplies.
Mian Sb please keep marching ahead with your vision and don't let the troublemaker politicians distract you.